Hmmm...an interesting week

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me.
When the world's all as it should be,
Blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering.
Though there's pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name.

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord,
Still I will say,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Sometimes you don't hear much from me because we're incredibly busy and I just don't have time to really sit and gather my thoughts together. Sometimes you don't hear from me because the blogs I sit and write have to be deleted because they aren't edifying to anyone, including me. This past week, the silence was due to the latter. It was a pretty dark week here, in more ways than one.

Problem #1: The weather turned dark and cold and rainy this week, which is what it should be in April. Last week's weather, which was sunshine and sixty degrees, was an anomaly. I am astonished at the impact the weather has on how I see the world. It made the beginning of our time here very difficult, and it snuck up on me again this week. Without my paying attention to it, my mood was gravely affected by the gray skies and rain/snow. (Yep...it snowed on me yesterday as I went to school.)

Problem #2: In the last six weeks, I have had no time alone. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Being with my family all day, every day is more than this introvert can handle. This is my own fault, by the way, for not making time to do things by myself. I went to school yesterday without the kids, and it was amazing to me what a difference those minutes by myself made in how I felt.

Problem #3: I'm lonely. I love the people in the Moscow mission, but it's a huge city, and everyone's busy. I found out on Saturday that another family we love is headed back to the states. I feel very isolated sometimes. And my best friend lives in Brazil, which might as well be the moon. We are in contact all the time, but it's not the same as sitting together in class at FPO.

Problem #4: We've discovered that someone we were trying to develop a relationship with is stealing from us. That's discouraging, to say the least.

So how is this edifying? Why publish this blog and not the others I've written this week? Because in all of these things, I can honestly tell you that He is still God. He provides what we need, when we need it. Trying circumstances existed at home in Florida. He was God there. No mission field on earth is easy. He's still God here. Every Thursday night, we get closer and closer to the people who come to English club. They are a part of our lives now, and we are a part of theirs. Next week is Eastern Orthodox Easter, and we are going to have the opportunity to discuss what Easter means through the discussion of culture and tradition. Marc is going tonight with one of the guys--a former mig pilot for the Russian Air Force--to hear a country music singer. God's at work, even when we are discouraged. God's at work on bright and shiny days, and He's still at work on dark days. And I can get through the dark days because I know whom I have believed. He is trustworthy and faithful. And while I spend much of my time on this blog telling you the positive things going on, I think it's edifying to the body to know that even when not-so-great days come on the mission field, He's still worthy of my praise, my life, my everything.

It's almost time for language, so I'll run. Wherever you are in the world today, I pray that you know the God of Everything and His faithfulness, and that you understand how to use prepositions in whatever language you are studying. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye